Tag Archives: Associations

The Douglas Tilden 5K/10K Walk / Run for Deaf Humanity will be held in San Francisco at the Golden Gate Park on Sunday, June 2, 2013. If you sign up for the event by May 31st, the registration is $31.00 for adults and $16.00 for teenagers under the age of 18. If you pay at […]

The American Deafness and Rehabilitation Association (ADARA) is having their conference in Minneapolis, Minnesota on May 29 to June 1, 2013. The conference theme is “Blazing New Trails.” They will have workshops in mental health/chemical dependency, rehabilitation, transition/independent living, and professional development. The early bird registration fee for the whole conference is $325.00.

An ASL movie called “Lake Windfall” will be shown at the Phoenix Association of the Deaf on May 3 and May 4th. You can save money on tickets for the movie if you order them by April 29th. The movie will be shown at 1545 West Osborn Rd., Phoenix, AZ 85015.

Deaf Unity and the Somali National Association for the Deaf (SNAD) are working together to strengthen the deaf community in Somalia. The Somali National Association for the Deaf held a leadership seminar supported by Deaf Unity on January 8, 2013. The seminar was led by Abubakar Sheikh, the president of the SNAD. He is a […]

Deaf and hard of hearing associations congratulated four of U.S.A.’s largest wireless carriers for voluntarily agreeing to make sure text can be used to call 9-1-1. They said they will accelerate the availability of text to 9-1-1, and it should be available all over the U.S.A. by May 15, 2014.

The American Deafness and Rehabilitation Association (ADARA) is looking for presenters for their conference in Minneapolis next year. The conference will be there on May 29 – June 1, 2013. They plan to have workshops in the following subject areas: (1) mental health/chemical dependency, (2) rehabilitation, (3) transition/independent living, and (4) professional development. For more […]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Jennifer Neale or May, 2010 – The Center for Early Intervention on Deafness (CEID) was co-founded 30 years ago, by Jill Ellis. What she faced then, a culture here in the United States that often caused parents to hide their deaf children is very similar to what R.J. […]

During yoga class the teacher, Tina, tells me to lift up a bit. I’m squatting in a pose (it’s sort of this made up pose that I’ve dubbed the Tinasana) and Tina says my middle is sagging.

“The muscles in your body will automatically revert to being lazy if given the chance,” she says.

Lazy? But I’m working so hard, I think.

Later, in Warrior II I’m concentrating on my arms when Tina reminds me to firm my thighs. If I don’t pay attention, they become lazy.

Yet another pose and my feet are splaying instead of pointing in the right direction. Guess why?

Really. Out of all the things in the world, I don’t consider myself lazy. But apparently even when I’m truly working on my alignment there are parts of my body that are secretly trying to get away with as little as possible.

After class I start thinking . . . does that apply to other areas of my life?

No way. I’m motivated! Diligent!Relentless in my pursuits!

Aren’t I?

Except in the mornings. I like to linger in bed. It’s warm and cozy. Plus I’m still sleepy. By the time I do get up, shower, and eat breakfast, I’m always surprised at how much of the day has gotten away from me before I make it to my home office.

And walking. I love my afternoon walks. Love them. Then why do I skip them from time to time, opting instead to sit and work a little longer?

Speaking of work, I realized something as I began investigating this whole laziness issue. If I have ten things on my “To Do” list, I tend to opt for the easiest projects first. When I do start working on a hard topic (say an article that requires a lot of research or possibly a personal essay that forces me to do some inner work), I will drop it as soon as I feel stuck. I tell myself I’ll get back to it and turn my attention to the easier assignments again.

Isn’t it funny the insights yoga gives us into our lives? So if you’ll excuse me, I have an article I’ve put off. I’d better get working on it.

My car crunches over the gravel as I pull into the parking lot of the yoga studio. Climbing up the rickety stairs of the wood building, I’m filled with hope.

This is the ninth yoga instructor I’ve tried since moving to DC. For whatever reason, I can’t seem to find a teacher that feels like the right fit. In part, I’m grieving the loss of my instructor from Los Angeles whom I adored. And I admit I don’t mind the teachers I’ve practiced with here, but I find yoga easier to maintain when I feel a strong authentic connection.

A few months ago I tried a class where the teacher did seem like a great fit. But when I returned, she was no longer there. I scoured the web searching for her to pop up in another studio around town. I only had a first name to go off of, but I think I might have found her and that’s why I’m here today.

I sign in at the desk and walk into the studio. The teacher is asking the class to get two blocks, a blanket, and a strap. Yep, that’s her. I can tell by the sound of her voice.

She walks by me on her way to close the door of the studio, but she pauses before reaching her destination. She watches me as I pull back my hair back into a loose ponytail.

“Hi. I’m Jenny. I’m a drop-in,” I say.

“I know you,” she says.

I sigh in relief. She remembers me.

“I took a restorative yoga class you taught in another studio a few months ago. I’ve been looking for you ever since. You’re hard to find,” I explain.

“Yes,” she nods, remembering the class. “It’s taken me awhile to get going and figure out where to set up shop.”

Well no wonder I couldn’t find her. She’s a new teacher. Later, I discover that she had a health scare which caused her to re-evaluate her entire career as a molecular biologist. Once she recovered, she decided to become a yoga teacher. Love that (I had a similar experience three years ago and that’s when I began writing).

We open by chanting three Oms. Then she tells us to be sure not to miss class three weeks from now. She’ll be teaching it outside where we will all face the trees so we can experience a “yoga foliage festival.” Oh yeah, she’s my kind of yogi. 

It’s a “sudden overwhelming fear, with or without cause, that produces hysterical or irrational behavior” according dictionary.com.

I’ve certainly been guilty of it. But it usually doesn’t serve me well. Like the time I convinced myself I had appendicitis and went into such hysterics that I passed out.

I came across this story last week – a construction worker in China was buried alive in the mud with nothing but a gap of air in front of his face (his helmet slid down). He didn’t panic. He practiced meditation and survived two hours on an amount of air that should have lasted five minutes.

I wonder sometimes how I would react in certain situations. What if I was eating in Windows restaurant at the top of the World Trade Center on Sept. 11? What if I was in one of the hijacked planes? I don’t think a person truly knows how he or she will respond unless in the situation. God willing, that will never be the case, but if it is, I hope I am like the man in the mud.

Directions

Combine olive oil, tomatoes, purple onion, parsley, salt and pepper in a small bowl. Mix and set aside.
Place 1 slice of Havarti cheese, 1 slice of turkey breast, 3 thin slices of avocado on each crispbread. Top with tomato and onion mixture.